A MAN has been arrested for showing up at a store dressed in a batman-like costume with customers fearing for their lives.
Matthew Argintar, 23, came to a Home Depot store in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, in the US, dressed in a "mask, cape and body armour" which included "tactical pants, elbow and arm pads and a bulletproof vest underneath his clothing". He was carrying handcuffs.
He then allegedly went to people in the store's car park asking if they needed help.
Witnesses told Lehigh Valley Express-Times newspaper that many customers retreated to their cars when they saw Argintar, recalling the recent mass shooting at the premiere of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado, in which gunman James Holmes, also dressed in body armour, allegedly opened fire on crowds of moviegoers.
Argintar, who was arrested after police received several emergency calls regarding what witnesses feared was a Colorado "copycat.", said he said he is among an estimated 100 people who dress as what they call real-life superheroes.
The association which claims that its main objective is to "inspire others to go out and do good," has member-restricted content and public links to crime fighting, equipment, police scanner feeds and US law sites.
Argintar told the newspaper that a fellow movement participant was Phoenix Jones, who was arrested and charged in connection with trying to break up a fight last October in his hometown of Seattle by pepper-spraying the participants.
Recently honorably discharged from the US Army, he told the newspaper that he was trying to inspire hope and some customers asked him to pose for photos with their children.
"I've been doing this for months. I've been going out at night and doing this, and meanwhile the one time I decide to go out in the day ...," Argintar said. "We are out there to try and inspire hope because that's what the people need right now: hope. ... I'm not going out there looking for a fight.
"... What I was doing was not seen the way I wanted it to be seen. I understand it was (expletive) timing and everything. I get that."
Argintar was charged with being disorderly and unlawful possession of handcuffs. He was taken to hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, pending an appearance in Mansfield Township Municipal Court on August 21.
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I remember watching the documentary on these dudes
